Chapter 3: Suspicions 

 

 

      Gaara kept getting closer and closer. You kept your eyes closed though, still only slightly wary of him after this morning. One thing was for sure, you did not feel like getting into another glaring contest with him. You didn’t feel like making anything worse with someone who probably considered you an enemy for ‘standing up to him’, according to Ino. It wouldn’t be worth it.

        There was one thing on your mind though, something you dreaded. What if he was your new partner? It surely made sense. It sure didn’t look like his siblings would be sitting with him, since they were going to a different desk altogether. After what happened this morning, you would only feel annoyed with having to deal with him as a partner, for the rest of the year no less. You really didn’t want the possibility of some form of argument or fight to break out, but no matter what happened, you would not let him stomp on you like some sort of insect. Ever. So, if a fight had to happen, it would.

        Footsteps were heard approaching your desk, louder and louder as they came closer. You half opened your eyes in a careless and slightly cold manner, and looked at the scene before you. Gaara, still walking, was now at the front of your desk, and your expression never changed. Then, it happened.

        He was walking past you and the desk, to your slight relief.

        About halfway from passing you, he made eye contact, and lowered his eyes somewhat at seeing your form. You had made eye contact with him and lowered your eyes a little as well, equally annoyed to see him here just as he must’ve been you. Both your stares were not full on glares like the last time, only irritation showed through them, not too strong yet not too calm. After a couple seconds, you both looked away at the same time, with you turning your head back to the window and resting it on your right palm, and him just looking forward again and continuing to walk past your desk. You didn’t want to keep the contact too long because it would show over confidence, or too short because that would show submission. It could make you seem afraid to look him in the eyes, which was the opposite of what you wanted. You would show this guy that you would not be easy to mess with, no matter how many glares he directed your way, and no matter what way you had to do it. Even with the simplest of things.

        However, you wondered why he didn’t keep contact with you for too long, or why it wasn’t as cold as before like this morning. It felt more like an irritated observation. Maybe he’s already figured out my stubbornness and gave up. Or he doesn’t care, which would be so awesome. You smirked at the thought, but that quickly changed into a frown. No, that’s probably not it. Something tells me he doesn’t seem like one to just give up over something as small as a glare contest. But one can still dream.

        The sound of a chair being pulled out dragged you out of your questioning thoughts. It was from the desk directly behind you. You knew who it was without even looking. It was Gaara. Apparently, he didn’t sit with you, but behind you. You couldn’t tell if he was staring at you or not, but you didn’t care that much at the moment. If he is staring at me, let him. I’m already used to stuff like that from my old school, and my stupid ‘parents’. Why would Gaara be any different, or worse for that matter. Your train of thoughts continued as you looked out the window, thinking just about anything that came to mind.

        The day was actually very nice outside. Nice bright blue sky, white clouds scattered about, and the sun shining brilliantly down on the glass, reflecting its rays across the landscape perfectly. These were the days you thought were the most beautiful. You loved sunny days, and longed to be outside to relax and embrace the sun’s warmth. You stared out the window with a saddened look, wishing to be outside and free, sprinting through the bright green grass and rolling down massive hills into piles of leaves. It was the child within you who yearned for these kinds of dreams, the one who was never let out before. It all made you think of poor James, and you wondered how he was doing with those slobs he and you called ‘parents’. Was he doing good without you? The same? Or worse?

        Before you could delve too deep in your memories, the class door was loudly opened once again. You ignored it, since you knew you wouldn’t recognize any one of the students who entered, so you could care less. It was then, a few moments later, you heard footsteps stop next to your desk. You turned your head away from the window only to see a girl standing next to you. Could she be my partner?

        The girl had strange big pale purple eyes, which made it look as if she was blind at a mere first glance. It was easy to tell that she wasn’t, though, since she wouldn’t be frantically moving her eyes around like she was doing now, obviously trying to avoid looking at you as much as possible. I’ve never seen eyes like hers before. Is it some rare trait or condition? You didn’t want to question her about it though, since you may only make her embarrassed or even more nervous than she already was. Along with her unique eyes, she had long navy blue hair with straight cut bangs covering her forehead, a streak of light blue circling her head where said bangs were. She wore a purple shirt, over it a thicker tan sweatshirt with light purple trimmings along the zipper and sleeves with a pyro symbol on the left shoulder, blue knee length jean shorts, and navy blue shoes that matched her hair color.

        She looked very fidgety and shy, which you empathized with, since you felt the exact same way in social situations. You honestly felt bad for her. At least you could hide your emotions, but this girl was literally radiating anxiousness. She might be a little too nervous. I have to try and be careful, and more sensitive, and maybe I could calm her down. It puzzled you why you cared so much. Maybe it was because you knew how she felt, meeting new people and all, and you pitied her, or maybe you were getting soft and were being more open, what after meeting Naruto and the others. Maybe it was a combination of both, creating an inner conflict with yourself on what you should do. You shook yourself out of your thoughts and once again focused on her.

        The girl was still looking around frantically, still trying to avoid eye contact at all costs. She was blushing from, what you guessed, embarrassment, while twiddling her thumbs and occasionally messing with the straps of her small purple school bag. You realized that your careless and almost emotionless expression was probably not helping at all, so you tried to appear more innocent by trying to soften your eyes a bit, and slightly tilting your head in a curious matter, almost like a puppy’s. Apparently, that only made it worse, since her fidgeting increased, and she started stuttering.

        “U-um… mmm.. u-uhh…” You knew she wasn’t going to be saying a single word anytime soon, so you knew you were the one that had to say the first word. You had an idea of what she might want, but you didn’t want to upset her, since it would only make her feel bad and you regretful and guilty. You were still nervous and suspicious yourself, but nevertheless, you raised the corner of your lips into a slightly gentle smile. You would put her to the test.

        “Do you want the window seat?” You tried to ask in a kind way, but it sounded too much like your usual cold tone of voice, which was unfortunately the opposite of what you wanted. As soon as you asked the question, she looked taken aback. You hoped you didn’t accidentally make it worse. It took her a few moments to regain herself, until she finally shook her head side to side as a ‘no’.

        “I-I-it’s fine. I-I’ll sit here. N-no worries. I-It’s not w-what I w-wanted to say anyways. ” Her voice was so quiet and genuine, she sounded like a squeaky mouse.

        “You avoided the question.” She froze at your reply. You swore you could see her sweat, just a bit. You raised the corner of your lip up into a more friendly smile, and quickly tried to comfort her. “I can move if you’re more comfortable by the window. I mean, the seat’s right here next to me. It’s not a bother.” You raised both your hands in a reassuring matter. “I swear.” To your relief, she finally seemed to relax at what you were saying.  She blushed a bit more, and calmly replied while twiddling her thumbs once again.

        “N-no. I-I-I mean it. Y-you c-c-can have it.” She still didn’t answer your question, and instead avoided it, again. Maybe it’s just that she actually would like to sit in my seat, she just didn’t want to make me angry or anything like that. So instead of saying anything else, you put your fingers on your chin to ponder over what to do, since you could tell she was too afraid to admit anything. The girl just stood there, getting curious and more nervous by the second, looking at you and waiting for a response. It didn’t take long to think of a solution though, and you removed your hands from your chin and once again raised the corner of your lips into a soft smile.

        “I have an idea. How about we take turns. I sit in this seat one day, and you the next day. We both get what we want, making it a win-win. How does that sound?” She blushed a little at the kind gesture, and nodded her head.

        “T-that’s fine. I-If you’re o-okay with it.” You lowered your smile.

        “But I didn’t ask if I was okay with it, I asked if you were okay with it. Don’t just go with what others do because they like it, go with it because you like it. Alright?” Although she seemed more tense, she nodded her head ‘yes’ and shakily smiled at you.

        “I-It really is okay with me.” To prove her point, she sat down in the seat next to you. “See?” She reassured.

        “Whatever you say.” You widened your smile some more. The girl blushed a little, and finally started to relax. “By the way, I just realized, I never asked your name. What is it?” She hesitantly replied.

        “H-Hinata. Hinata H-Hyuuga.”

        “Well, mine’s (Y/N) (L/N). Your name is way prettier than mine, you know.” More blood rushed to Hinata’s cheeks.

        “N-no, it’s not as pretty as yours!” She hastily added. Is it me, or is she stuttering less than when just a minute ago? You chuckled at the thought. She looked at you, a tiny bit perplexed at your action. It only made you chuckle harder.

        “It’s nothing. It’s just that you’re stuttering less now.” Her blush remained, and you both giggled.

        “I-It’s just that, I-I can be r-really nervous around new people. I-I’m sorry!” You flashed her an understanding grin.

        “No need to apologize. I am too.” She looked at you surprised.

        “How is that? I-I mean, y-you don’t look or act like how I do at all!” Your smile curved downwards to a small frown.

        “If you say I don’t look afraid, then I’m doing a good job so far.” You closed your eyes and sighed. You couldn’t see Hinata’s expression, but you somehow knew she was slightly confused. “Let’s just say…” You sighed once again. “It’s complicated.” She furrowed her eyebrows, secretly pleading for more of an explanation. You saw the expression she was giving you, and you were extremely surprised by it. She showed worry and concern, and you only recognized these emotions because of Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, and… James. No! Don’t have flashbacks here! It’ll just get you worked up again. Just calm down. You soothed yourself.

        Before you could think about your old memories anymore, you forced all of your attention on Hinata, and quickly waved off what you said earlier. You gave a close eyed, and half-fake, smile. “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Trust me. It’s just, uhh, well…-” Hinata stopped you before you could continue. She smiled, held up her hand, and placed it on your shoulder, like a mother assuring her child.

        “I-If you don’t want to talk about it, y-you don’t have to. I-I understand. You don’t have to tell me anything i-if you don’t want to, o-okay?” You were sure shock was the most prevalent feature you showed. You couldn’t believe that she wasn’t at least a little uncomfortable with the awkwardness you suddenly created. Instead, Hinata only showed kindness and sympathy towards you. You wanted to act like a child and giddily squeal at the emotions you were being shown only today, but you held yourself back and instead happily smiled at her.

        “T-Thanks Hinata.”

        “N-No problem (Y/N).” Your eyes shone with a newfound gleam in them. You were sure of it. You felt it. You didn’t think anything besides Naruto and then meeting his new friends could make you feel such joy, but you were proven utterly wrong. Kindness was only given to you by James and your old principal, no one else, until today. Nothing could be any better. “H-Hey? (Y-Y/N)? I-I have a q-question to a-ask you.” Hinata’s quiet voice drew you out of your thoughts. You blinked, and you lowered your temporary smile to your usual poker-like face.

        “Yeah? What’s up?” She started twiddling her thumbs.

        “D-Do you think, th-that w-we could be… f-f-fr-” Before she could finish her question, the bell rang. Both your heads shot to the front of the class. Was she about to ask to…

        You shook your head to clear your mind and then got your Biology stuff out of your bag. You were now prepared like everyone else in the class, which you just realized was now full of people. You didn’t have time to observe anyone in particular, when Orochimaru stood up from his desk, ready to give everyone the lesson for today. He flashed everyone a snake-like smirk as he greeted the class.

        “Good morning, everyone.” The whole class responded at once, albeit slowly.

        “Good morning Sensei.”

        “Today, I have something ‘special’ planned.” For some reason, you didn’t like the way he said ‘special’. It sounded as if he was about to put the whole class through torture. I’m sure it would amuse him too. “You will all be doing a group project.” Yep. I damn well knew it. Torture. It wasn’t just you who thought the same thing, since almost everyone groaned when he said ‘group project’. “You and your lab partner will work with one other pair to complete an assignment I will personally give you.” UGH! Don’t feel like it. “This will be the start of our next unit, the cycles of organisms. I have already picked the groups, so come up here and look at my list to see who you’ll be working with.” Orochimaru sat back down at his desk and took out a piece of paper, which presumably held the list of groups. Sounds of people pushing their chairs out and walking up to the front of the class were heard, signaling you to do the same. But before you could get up, Hinata beat you to it, and already shot out of her chair before you could move.

        “D-Don’t worry (Y/N)! I’ve got it!” You went to hold up your hand to stop her and offer to do it yourself, but she already started skippingoff down the aisle to Orochimaru’s desk before you could utter a single breath.

        “…O-Okay, I guess.” You lowered your hand back down to your side and looked around at your classmates to see if anyone looked nice to work with, while also checking to see if Gaara was staring at you. You were slightly worried about possibly being in a group with him, since Orochimaru said you, your partner, and another pair would be working together. Honestly, right now you were more worried about poor Hinata, and how she wouldn’t be able to take the ‘tension’ between you and him if you guys were paired. You sat there with your head in the palm of your hands, again thinking about the worst possible scenarios, but was soon interrupted by Hinata returning to the table.

        “(Y/N). I-I’ve got good news!” You turned your head see Hinata holding a piece of paper in her hand.

        “What is it Hinata?”

        “We get to work with two of my closest friends! D-Don’t worry. I-I know you’ll like them. They’re the next table over, c-come on!” Before you could voice your opinion on yet again meeting new people you were not so thrilled on meeting, Hinata grabbed your wrist and pulled you up on your feet. 

        Before she pulled you to the table next to yours, you took a quick and unnoticed glimpse of Gaara, to see his siblings and him at the one right behind the table Hinata was dragging you to. Despite being behind you, you knew they wouldn’t bother you, since you all would be busy with the project, or so you hoped. Hinata pulled you into the left seat of the desk next to her, with your back facing Gaara and your front facing Orochimaru’s desk, where two others sat across from you. You still kept your usual careless poker-like face on, and observed them.

        Directly across from you was a messy haired brunette boy with tanned skin, two red markings on his cheeks that looked like claws, visible sharpened canine teeth protruding from the top of his mouth, and black slit like eyes that reminded you of a dog’s. Huh. Dog-boy. That’s actually really cool, since I love dogs too. Lucky, for both of us. He wore a light grey sweatshirt with brown fur on the sleeves and hood, dark grey-ish brown pants, and black shoes. I think it’s obvious that he’s an animal, or at least, dog lover.

        The other one was also a brunette boy, who sat in the seat across from Hinata. His hair was more spiky and frizzy than the other one, it looked like a spiky brown bush was placed on his head. He had black circle-lensed sunglasses that covered his eyes, and black furrowed eyebrows that surprisingly didn’t look angry, but more poker faced like yours. He wore a grey coat like the other boy as well, only it was more silver looking, and there was no fur on it. Other than his coat, he wore dark brown pants that stopped midway down his calves, and dark blue shoes. There was something else about him, something that you were missing, that made you wonder. It was like there was another presence, or rather, presences there.

        You still kept your stoic face trained on them, waiting to see if they would say anything, because you certainly didn’t want to. An almost awkward silence arose, since no one wanted to say anything. Finally, Hinata timidly spoke up.

        “(Y-Y/N), uh, th-these are my friends. Kiba Inuzuka,” She pointed to the dog boy, “and Shino Aburame.” She pointed to the other one. “U-Uh, Kiba and Shino, th-this is m-my n-new partner, (Y-Y/N) (L-L/N).” Hinata introduced you. They both greeted you in return.

        “Sup (Y/N)? Nice to meet ya!” Kiba smirked, which showed more of his abnormally sharpened canines.

        “Hello. Nice to meet you as well.” Shino said with a monotone and somewhat raspy voice.

        “Uhh, nice to meet you guys too…” You were slow and hesitant with your words, since you still didn’t fully trust these people, even if they were close friends with Hinata.

        “You’re new here, right?” Kiba excitedly asked. You nodded your head ‘yes’. “Well, welcome then! Hope Hinata hasn’t been too stuttery with you. She can be EXTREMELY shy. I’m surprised that you’ve made friends with her so fast. Hinata’s usually nervous around people, especially ones she doesn’t know. So, tell me. How’d you guys become friends so fast?” Hinata blushed extremely red the more Kiba described her shyness. You felt bad for her since, from what you’ve seen, everything he said was true. The same went for you too, but at least you hid your fears. Before you could answer Kiba’s question, Shino stopped you all from continuing.

        “Let’s save the questions for later. We need to get started on this project.” You looked over to Shino.

        “Well, I can tell someone’s very efficient. I actually agree with you on this, even though I don’t wanna do it. Sorry Kiba.” You said. Shino seemed to approve of your answer.

        “Thank you.” He said it as if you were the most logical person he’s ever met, no hint of sarcasm whatsoever. Maybe he doesn’t mind me that much now, or he’s just trying to be nice? Yeah, that’s probably it. You subconsciously nodded your head at your thoughts, and glanced over at Kiba, who finally remembered that you all had a project to do. He rubbed the back his neck sheepishly. 

        “Oh yeah. Forgot about that. Sorry.” Kiba apologized. Shino nodded in agreement at him now, and turned to Hinata.

        “Hinata, can you hand me that paper you have?” Hinata quickly handed the paper she had gotten from Orochimaru to Shino, who then skimmed over the typed writing. Kiba tried to lean over and read the paper, but he couldn’t due to Shino’s big hood blocking his view of the paper. He scowled and leaned back in his seat, folding his arms and growling in irritation. You bit your lip, trying to hold back your laughter at the amusing show, and Kiba noticed.

        “And what’s so funny to you?” He sounded and acted like a little kid, and you couldn’t take him seriously because of it.

        “Nothing.” You replied with a smirk. He rolled his eyes, and smirked at your attempts to not laugh. Finally, Shino looked up from the paper and explained the assignment.

        “We have to make a presentation about a certain animal’s life cycle.” Kiba excitedly looked up.

        “GREAT! I know what animal we can do then! A-” Shino stopped him before he could continue.

        “We are not doing dogs for a project… again. Lets try something new, like one of my kikaichu beetles.” He held up his hand, and showed everyone a big blackish beetle with six legs and turquoise eyes that seemed to come out of nowhere. Was that the thing I thought I sensed on him earlier? What is he, a bug man? “I already know everything about them, so a big part of the project is already done, research. We wouldn’t have to do as much, and we would get this over with sooner. Plus-“

        “I don’t care about your stupid reasons for wanting to use your stupid beetles, bug boy.”

        “Kiba. Watch it.” Shino said through gritted teeth.

        “Don’t tell me what to do!”

        “Calm down. Lets discuss this, like gentlemen.”

        “Ah SHUT UP!” Kiba yelled. Hinata sighed.

        “Oh no.” You looked at Hinata with concern. She had a pleading ‘please someone help us’ face, which you shrugged at. You turned back to the arguing boys, well, Kiba was yelling and Shino was grumpily trying to calm him down and talk things out. You softly sighed like Hinata.

        While the boys were ‘arguing’, you and Hinata sat in your seats, silently listening to and bearing with the conflict before you. You both didn’t say a word, you didn’t need to, since Kiba and Shino weren’t causing trouble for the other groups, except for yours. It was clear that both of you thought it was best to let the boys work everything out on their own, since you didn’t feel like getting in the middle of all that. Although, after a few minutes of thinking, an idea popped in your head, and you interrupted their bickering.

        “How about a wolf?” You asked, interrupting their ‘conversation’. They both went silent, and turned their heads in your direction. There was a pause, until you finally explained your reasoning. “It’s a mix of your different likes. Kiba, wolves are the ancestors of dogs, and therefore are very similar to them.Shino, your beetles, I know that they move and act like a pack. I see a bunch of them up your sleeves. It’s obvious that they stick together, so you know more about packs and how they function, and wolves move in packs too.” Shino showed some kind of emotion for once, a little shock. You don’t think he thought you were that observant, which you usually weren’t. You only just happened to notice the squirming bumps on his clothing where his sleeves were, which you assumed were more bugs and insects. “Plus, wolves lead way different lives than dogs, in behavioral and lifestyle terms. They’re completely wild and way more primal. For me, they just happen to be one of my favorite animals, so I actually know a lot about them. And now, with all of our knowledge, most of the research is done.” There was a few seconds more of silence.

        “That… actually sounds perfect.” Shino admitted.

        “Yeah, wolves are pretty cool.” Kiba seemed to ponder more about the idea, and soon became excited. “Yeah, we could totally do wolves!” He kept enthusiastically nodding his head to show his immense approval. You swore that if he had a tail, he would be whacking everyone with it with the force of his wagging. Those two are on board, and have stopped arguing, so now there’s one more thing that needs to be taken care of.

        “And Hinata.” At the sound of her name, Hinata looked at you questioningly. “What do you think?” She looked taken aback that you had asked for her opinion, which is what you were expecting, and you waited patiently for her to answer. After a minute or two, she finally responded.

        “S-Sure. Wolves are okay to do. I-It’s fine b-by me.” You weren’t convinced that she meant it.

        “If you don’t like it, we can always do something else. It’s no big deal. You know that, right?”

        “N-No. I mean it. I-I actually love the night, and nocturnal animals and such, s-so I would love to do wolves for the project.” You detected no lies in her words, she was sincere with her answer. You smiled reassuringly, and turned to face the whole group.

        “Wolves it is then.” You declared. Kiba gave a closed eyed grin and fist bumped the air, Shino just lowered his head, where you thought you saw him smirk, and Hinata smiled knowing everyone came to an agreement with not as much fighting as usual. When everyone started to calm down and regain their senses again, you decided to get straight to work. “Hey Shino.” You heard a quiet ‘hm’ to show that he was listening. “When does it say this thing’s due?” Shino brought the paper up to his face again and skimmed for a due date.

        “It says it’s due by the end of the month.” This made you confused.

        “How come we get a whole month to do this, when it doesn’t sound so hard to begin with?” Shino handed you the paper.

        “Here, read it yourself.” You raised a questioning brow, but took the paper nonetheless. You found the section with the instructions and read it. When you finished, your eyes widened and you shut your mouth tight. Holy shit! You’ve gotta be kidding me! Kiba and Hinata watched your reaction worriedly, and Kiba furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity.

        “Hey I wanna see!” Kiba frustratingly yelled. 

        “You really don’t wanna know, but since you insist, here.” You shoved the paper into Kiba’s hands, and he took it with a frown. He skimmed it over, and practically almost fainted; he looked dead stricken. You mumbled a quiet ‘told you so’, while Hinata took the paper and read it herself. She didn’t look too happy with it either, paling a tiny bit as she skimmed it over. She gave the paper back to you, and you cleared your throat to regain your composure. “We can do it, don’t worry. We have to start working on it soon though, so how about we hit the library, say, Friday after school? We can all do some research and use the computers there for putting together the actual project. Everyone free that day?”

        “Mhm.” Shino mumbled.

        “Yeah, I think I can make time!” Kiba gave his signature toothy smirk.

        “S-Sure.” Hinata nodded her head.

        “Then sounds like a plan everyone. In the meantime, we can start drafting and outlining everything today.”

        “Alright! Let’s get started!” Kiba exclaimed with his canine smile. Shino then started asking the group to start getting certain supplies and different materials. You were about to pull some paper out of your bag yourself, when something caught your ear.

        “(Y/N)? So that’s her name.” A male voice sounded. You froze at the mention of your name, which came from directly behind you. Gaara’s table. “Well-.” Before he could continue, a female voice cut him off.

        “SSHH! We don’t want her to hear, idiot!” The voice whisper yelled. You realized that they might look over and see your stiff form, so you quickly tried to act normal again, getting some paper and putting it on the table, while you still trying to hear their conversation. Why are they talking about me? Is it about this morning? Did Gaara tell them what happened? What are they saying? You tilted your head to your left, so your right ear was lifted up more to try and pick up what they were whispering to each other. However, you unfortunately could no longer hear any words, only more unclear whisper yelling. You grew worried. You didn’t like it when people talked about you behind your back, because from experience, it was never a good thing. You tried to listen more for a moment or two, until Kiba started calling your name.

        “(Y/N)? (Y/N)!” You were jolted out of your concentration, and you quickly sat up straight and stared into Kiba’s suspicious eyes. You noticed that Hinata and Shino were also staring at you, but your main focus was on Kiba, since he was the one who called your name.

        “Y-Yeah?” You hoped Gaara and the others couldn’t hear your conversation, or they’d know you’d overheard them. Although, you couldn’t for sure if they really did know, since it’s not like you could just turn around and take a quick peek at them to see if they were watching you.

        “Are you okay?” Kiba raised his eyebrows quizzically, and his eyes stared right back at your (E/C) ones with what looked like concern. He probably just thinks I’m weird now. Great. 

        “Y-Yeah. I-I’m fine.” 

        “Then why do you sound like Hinata, stuttering and all?” Dammit. I did sound like Hinata.

        “It’s alright Kiba. I’m fine, I swear.” You tried to sound normal, your kind of normal, as best as you could. They sneaked a few glances at each other, and thankfully, Kiba and the others seemed to buy it.

        “…Alright, if you say so.” Unfortunately, you knew that he may still keep an eye on you if he wasn’t fully convinced, so you couldn’t go back to try and figure out what the siblings were saying about you. I’ll worry about it after class. Right now, I need to lower any lingering suspicion about me so Kiba and the others don’t suspect anything. “Anyway, we all wanted to ask you something.” They all looked at each other and nodded their heads, all the while smiling widely. Well, Shino may have been smirking, you couldn’t see. Even so, it creeped you out a bit, since you didn’t know what they were planning.

        “Why are you guys smiling like that?” You asked slowly. Their smiles only increased in length in what looked like excitement.

        “We just wanted to ask, well… if you would be our friend!” Kiba asked excitedly. You were shocked, once again, by this question that had been thrown your way now three times today. Your mouth was slightly agape, and your eyes widened more than usual. Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji had accepted you the moment they saw you, and somehow it had happened again with these three. Why is everyone asking to be my friend, and showing so much kindness? What did I do to deserve it? You gulped.

        “U-Uh uh, w-w-well… uh… um…” You were at a loss for words.

        “Hey, you’re stuttering like Hinata again! Oh come on, say yes! I know we’re not that bad. Even Shino’s pretty cool! Although, he can be a little weird, but aren’t we all?” You chuckled at Kiba’s comment, and at Shino’s reaction to it. At first he seemed a little irritated, but he seemed to calm down again at the very last part.

        “Why do you guys wanna be my friends anyway?” You didn’t mean for it to sound so rude like it had, but you didn’t regret it either way. You braced yourself for something along the lines of pure annoyance, but the complete opposite happened. Kiba started laughing. Not a sneer, snicker, nothing mocking, or even a sense of belittling you at all. There was nothing negative about it. He laughed as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. Even Hinata was giggling and Shino was chuckling. Finally, after everyone settled down, Kiba spoke.

        “Why would you ask something like that? Why wouldn’t we want to be your friends!?” His words stunned you. You couldn’t say a single word. Hinata giggled again.

        “U-Um, w-what Kiba really means is that, w-we think you’re a wonderful person, s-so we d-don’t understand why you t-think we wouldn’t want to be friends with you. I-I was a-actually about to ask you earlier, b-but the bell rang, and…” So I was right. She did want to ask me that? Why do these people keep being nice to me?

        “You seem surprised by our question. Is there something wrong?” Shino asked, still with his usual monotone voice. Although it was faint, you detected a hint of concern. You stumbled over your words in response.

        “U-Uh, well…” You didn’t  know what to say. You knew you couldn’t tell them about why you were acting like this, since you still didn’t want people to know your shy side and your past as much as you’d like. But still you had to say something, and quick. “T-There’s nothing wrong.” You shook your head to clear your mind, and smiled gratefully. “I would love to be you guys’ friend.” They ignored your jumbled self from just seconds ago and smiled in their own way: Kiba his toothy smirk, Hinata her blushing bubbly smile, and Shino his head lowered in approval. Kiba was apparently really excited, since he started hollering and fist bumping the air after you gave your answer.

        “Yes! Alright! This is the start of something special! WOO HOO!” You just playfully rolled your eyes at his enthusiasm, ignoring the very loud volume of his voice. He’s actually similar to Naruto. You smirked at the thought.

        You folded your arms on the table and rested your chin in the crook of them. Your eyes stayed open and softened. Your strong walls, for the first time since you really arrived in this town, completely crumbled to the gushing feelings of new yet now familiar warmth, that now engulfed you like flames swaying across a forest fire. For just one moment, you reflected on your whole day here so far, and smiled to yourself on all the good things that had happened to you, and it’s only been three periods no less. You felt relaxed and calm for once, more emotions you don’t usually feel, and embraced the idea of more than just one true friend.

        “Uh (Y/N)? (Y/N)!” You immediately sprung up from your resting position, your smiling face then returning back into your usual one with a raised eyebrow to show that you were listening, and a little annoyed from being interrupted from your relaxing thoughts. 

        “Not to ruin whatever moment you were just having there, but we should really start getting ideas.” Shino said. Kiba smiled, while reaching his hand across the table and ruffling your hair.

        “We’ll worry about that later.” You gave him a warning glare, you didn’t like your hair being touched. James had been the only one allowed to, but even then it could still get you mad. Kiba smirked. “That’s what you get for dozing off.” You scoffed.

        “I wasn’t dozing off.” He smirked even more.

        “Sure ya weren’t.” He said sarcastically. “Come on, Dozer, lets get to work.” You chose to mostly ignore his new nickname for you, and merely rolled your eyes. He chuckled at your reaction and got to work just like everyone else had. Maybe I’ll get him back later. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. You thought devilishly, already thinking of revenge pranks.

        When the bell finally rang, signaling the end of class, your group had actually gotten a lot done. You had a great idea for how to present your project and were all ready to put it in motion. You just needed more research than the notes you and Kiba had already written down, and you would be finished in no time. You put all of your stuff back into your bag and quickly exchanged numbers with everyone, then proceeded to exit the now almost empty classroom, even Gaara and his siblings had left.

        “Yo (Y/N). What class do you have next period?” Kiba asked. By now you were all in the hallway, and had formed a circle near the classroom door.

        “I got gym. Why, what do you have?” He looked sad at your answer.

        “Awwww we don’t have gym! UGH! Maaan I was hoping we’d have the same class together again. Dammit.” He changed from sad to cranky in a second. You evilly smirked at him.

        “Maybe that’s what you get for messing with my hair, bad juju.” 

        “You mean like this?” Now it was his turn to smirk, as he once again ruffled your hair.

        “Yes, like that now get off!” You pouted your lips and swatted his hands away. As you fixed your hair and frowned at Kiba, he was chuckling at you like a madman, or mad dog, since he is the dog boy.

        “Haha! I swear, sometimes you act like Naruto. Oh wait, sorry, you probably don’t know who he is.” You giggled, which caught him off guard.

        “Oh please. Even though I only just met him, I could recognize his loud mouth anywhere.” He made a shocked ‘o’ face.

        “You do know him then?” You nodded, and Shino agreed.

        “You shouldn’t be surprised Kiba. Naruto is an… ‘outgoing’ person by nature.”

        “Yeah, I guess you’re right. He is pretty loud too. Heh.” Kiba chuckled at his own logic, and you laughed back.

        “It doesn’t surprise me that you know him too, I guess. He actually has gym with me next period… which means I have to go or he’s gonna worry. Hmmm, you know what? He can learn to be patient.” Shino shook his head ‘no’.

        “I don’t think patience is a word in his vocabulary. Or the word learn for that matter.” You all laughed.

        “Good one Shino.” You said through little fits of laughter.

        “It’s funny ’cause it’s true!” Kiba exclaimed. After you three had calmed down, you noticed Hinata’s face had taken on an extremely red color, more so than usual. You instantly went up to her and inspected her forehead.

        “Hinata, you’re BURNING hot! Are you okay?” You asked with concern. Shino and Kiba stared at Hinata for a second, then they started chuckling. You looked at them in slight anger and curiosity. “And just what is so funny about this?” You asked in irritation. When Kiba and Shino stopped their chuckle fits, you were still glaring at them, but Kiba quickly waved it off.

        “I think Naruto rubbed off on you more than you know.” He smirked. 

        “And what does that mean?”

        “Never mind. Hinata’s fine, trust me.” He winked. You stared at him confusedly, not understanding what he was trying to say.

        “Her face burns up whenever you say Naruto’s name…” Shino trailed off, trying to lead you on, and just as Shino said, Hinata’s face tremendously blushed when he said Naruto. Your eyes widened, as you instantly knew what was going on. You weren’t oblivious to that stuff, after all. You devilishly smirked and started elbowing Hinata in the side.

        “So Naruto eh? Hm hm?” You wiggled your eyebrows. She started becoming more and more flustered, and her face took on the darkest shade of red you had ever seen. You leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell. But if you need ‘alone time’, I’ll help you out.” She looked like she was about to faint, and you were surprised that she hadn’t already, but she kept her head straight and fiercely shook her head no. You were actually serious though about setting her up. You may not have experience with that kind of love, but you could still try. She seemed to calm down after a moment or two, so you stepped away. 

        “Anyway, do you know where the gym is (Y/N)?” Kiba asked. You nodded your head.

        “Yeah I’m fine.”

        “Then don’t get lost.” Shino warned.

        “I-I think (Y/N) is m-more than capable of f-finding it.”

        “Guys, I saw it this morning, I know where it is. It’s to the right when you come into the school. See, I’m fine. I swear.” Kiba make a ‘psh’ noise.

        “Don’t lie to us, and don’t blame me when you’re late.” You playfully rolled your eyes.

        “Don’t blame me when you’re wrong.”

        “I’ll blame myself when I’m right.” You snorted. You looked at the time, and hurriedly said your goodbyes.

        “Bye guys! I’ll see you tomorrow!” You called as you started speed walking down the hallway.

        “Bye (Y/N)!” They all called back. You waved to each other and then went your separate ways.

        It wasn’t too hard to find the gym, just like you thought. Thankfully you remembered the ways Naruto had taken you through the hallways this morning, so all you had to do was simply retrace your steps. You had even discovered a more direct route on the way once you were on the first floor. You saw earlier that the locker rooms were in a separate hallway along the right side of the gym, which would be towards the left side of the hallway you were in right now, so that’s where you headed. When you finally arrived at the girls’ locker room, Naruto was standing by the door, and looked up as soon as he heard you coming. He grinned from ear to ear and started running up to you while waving.

        “HEY! (Y/N)! OVER HERE!!” You chuckled at his excitement as he met you halfway between the locker room and the main hallway you came down from.

        “Hey Naruto.”

        “I was getting worried there for a second. What took ya so long?” He asked with some weird tone to his voice, as if he was about to prove something right. You knew what he was thinking.

        “No, Naruto. Unfortunately for you, I didn’t get lost.” You said smugly. He pouted his lips and muttered a ‘dangit’. “I’m late because I was just talking to my newest friends, who you should know: Kiba, Hinata, and Shino.” Naruto looked shocked, which then turned to happiness.

        “Yay! I’m glad you met them! They can be a bit weird though.” You playfully punched his shoulder.

        “Look who’s talking.” You both started laughing at your little joke, despite it being an insult to Naruto.

        “So, do you have all your stuff? Your change of clothes? Your locker number? You know where to go after you change? And what about-” You stopped him before he could ramble on anymore.

        “First, you’re not my dad. Second, yes, yes, yes, and yes. I can take care of myself just fine.” You smiled reassuringly at him. “Now, the responsible one says we should probably go get changed.” He pouted his lips again.

        “Hey, I’m responsible too! I was literally just making sure you were okay with everything!!” You only smirked in response, knowing full well that he wasn’t exactly responsible. He sighed, not bothering to argue with that triumphant look on your face. “Alright then. Let’s go change.” He started walking off to the boys’ locker room and waved back to you. “Bye bye (Y/N)! Be careful with Anko Sensei, okay!?” 

        “Okay! Wait, what do you mean by-” It was too late. Naruto was already inside the boys’ locker room. “-that? Hmmm.” Who’s Anko? And what does he mean by ‘be careful’? I guess I can assume that she’s the gym teacher, but is she strict, or something to that nature? Before you could ponder more over it, the bell rang. Thank goodness we get a couple extra minutes to change before class. With that last thought, you entered the girls’ locker room.

        The inside looked like any other school’s would. White tiled walls and floors contained different sections of small grey lockers, with the back of the lockers separating each of the different sections. You pulled out your schedule, which had your locker number, and examined it. 777. Hm. I think the sections are divided by hundreds, so I can assume I’m in section 7 then. It was pretty easy to find your locker, and when you did, you set your bag down next to you and proceeded to change into your gym uniform, which was a green t-shirt with a golden leaf symbol in the center and matching gold knee-length shorts.

        As you were changing, a girl walked up to the locker next to you, and she immediately took note of your presence. She smiled, and you stopped what you were doing and turned towards her way. She was a girl who had fairly tanned skin, dark brown eyes, matching brown hair that was styled into two Chinese style buns on the sides of her head, and two sets of short fringe bangs that framed both sides of her face. She wore a pink vest-like t-shirt with red trimmings and yellow fastening buttons at the front, a cropped jean jacket over top, aqua blue pants with the ends rolled up, and red colored converse.

        “Oh, hey there. You must be new here. I’m Tenten, nice to meetcha! What’s your name?” It was probably the most formal greeting you’d received the whole day, which unnerved you in a way, since you were now more used to people like Naruto so far. You were a little hesitant to give her your name.

        “(Y/N). Nice to meet you too, I guess.” Tenten gave you a closed eyed smile.

        “So, (Y/N), you enjoying it here so far?” You shrugged. Tenten waited for you to say something else, but no such thing happened. She put her hands on her hips and raised her lips into a smirk. “You don’t talk much do you?” You shrugged again, which made her chuckle. “I think you’re something special, am I right?” You looked at her confused, wondering what she found so ‘special’ about you, since so far you hadn’t even spoken more than one sentence to her.

        “How am I ‘special’?” You questioned suspiciously. She giggled.

        “I can just tell.” You raised your brows in more confusion. By now, you had both changed into your own uniforms.

        “How?” She shrugged her shoulders just like you did, in a mimicking way, and giggled once again. You glared, being impatient and wanting more answers than this girl’s forms of jokes. When she noticed your expression, she put her hands up in mock surrender.

        “Okay okay, I’m only joking!” She waved her arms around sheepishly. You relaxed a little, now only forming a little frown. “Well, I don’t know to be honest. I guess I just feel like there’s something more to you than meets the eye, you know? Call it a sixth sense if you want.” You sighed. 

        “Is that the only answer you can give?” You asked sarcastically. She smiled in response, which you took as a yes. You snorted, and she grinned.

        The lights in the room suddenly flashed off and on. Tenten’s smile changed into an ‘o’ shape, as she looked up at the ceiling in response. She waved to you with her right hand, signaling for you to follow.

        “That means we’ve gotta go to the gym. Come on!” You didn’t want to be late, so you walked over to Tenten, even though you really didn’t want to, and exited the locker room. You went to the closest side door of the huge gymnasium, but before you went inside, Tenten stopped you. “Just as a warning, Anko Sensei can be a little… tough, I guess that’s how you’d put it. But, don’t worry about it too much… right now. I’m sure you’ll survive.” You raised an eyebrow at her. Survive? She makes it sound like we’re at boot camp. She said no more on the topic, and you both opened the doors that lead inside.

        The gym was the usual rectangular shape with the longer sides having folded up bleachers, which is where the girls were lined up on the left, while the short sides had the main entrance doors on one end and back doors on the other, which is where the boys stood.

        Immediately you recognized Gaara, to your misfortune. Well, at least this isn’t co-ed. For some reason, he wasn’t in a gym uniform, but the attire he’s had on since this morning, and he was leaning against the corner of the right side bleachers right next to the boys, thankfully on the opposite side you were on. You noticed that he was glowering at you, so you flashed a glare of your own at him, then turned your gaze back to Tenten, who you followed to the line of girls with. You could still feel his lingering stare on you though, which thankfully stopped after a few seconds. Your attention was now on a dark purple haired woman who was standing in front of the girls with a clipboard in hand, assumedly doing attendance. So she must be Anko, the gym teacher, the one Naruto, and now Tenten, warned me about. 

        Who you assumed was Anko had slightly tanned white skin with light, tan-ish brown eyes glancing down at her list of names. Most of her purple hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, which made it look like purple flames were dancing across the back of her head. The rest of her hair was either at the sides of her head, or a part of her bangs. She wore a cropped, long sleeved eggplant-purple workout jacket with white trimming that showed her stomach, matching purple knee length shorts, and white sneakers. A silver necklace with a grey whistle was strung around her neck, and somehow you got a bad feeling that she uses it a lot. 

        As you and Tenten reached the line of girls, Anko had looked at her clipboard confusedly, and started glancing from side to side, as if looking for someone. When her eyes landed on the two of you, she instantly looked relieved, and walked over to the both of you. 

        “There you are Tenten. You’re la-… oh! You must be the new one, right?” She said in a low alto voice. You nodded at her question. “I’m the girls’ gym teacher, Anko Mitarashi, but you can just call me Anko, I don’t care much about formalities. So, what’s your name again?”

        “(Y/N) (L/N).” At the sound of your last name, Tenten looked offended.

        “How come you told Anko Sensei your last name but not me!?” You gave her a close eyed smirk, and did what you thought was right, which was give her an honest answer.

        “You never asked.” Tenten pouted her lips in a childish manner.

        “You never told me I needed to ask that! Plus, Anko Sensei didn’t have to ask, so why do I!?” Your smirk increased. Her reaction is priceless. Anko apparently thought so too, since she started chuckling along with you.

        “Alright girls alright. You can go argue over there in line. I’m still doing attendance, then you guys can… ‘talk’ during your free minutes. Got it?” She chuckled again, and motioned you to the big line of girls who were all talking to each other. Although, you wondered what these ‘free minutes’ she mentioned were, but before you could ask, Tenten had already grabbed your wrist and pulled you to where you needed to stand. When she stopped, you decided to ask her about it.

        “What are free minutes?” She turned to you and smirked.

        “Well, you didn’t ask nicely sooo…-” Your lips turned into a childish frown, then lightly punched her shoulder.

        “That was nicely.” She didn’t get mad at you like you expected, but instead smirked and playfully hit you back.

        “There, now we’re even. And, I guess I’ll take it.” She said. You smirked triumphantly, knowing that you hit her harder than she hit you. She must’ve noticed, because she started giggling at your expression. “Yeah yeah, I know you hit me harder and stuff. I’m just being nice today.” She winked.

        “You’re only being ‘nice’ huh?” You made air quotes around the word ‘nice’.

        “Yes, I am only being ‘nice’ now, so you’re lucky.” Tenten had also put air quotes around ‘nice’, mocking you. She then stuck her tongue out at you in a playful manner. You couldn’t help but chuckle at her childish sense of humor. You had to admit, this girl was ‘kind of’ okay in your book now. “Well anyway, moving on. To answer your question, Anko Sensei and Guy Sensei, the boy’s gym teacher, have to talk to each other at the beginning of every class for reports and workout plans and ideas and stuff like that. So, they let us have that time to talk with whoever we want. The only rules are: we can’t fight and we have to immediately go back to our own class when they blow their whistles.” You hummed in response, saying you understood.

        “That’s… kinda weird. But, I guess that’s cool. Wait… that means I can talk to Naruto then!” Tenten gasped when you said Naruto.

        “Wait, you know Naruto!?” You nodded your head.

        “You know him too?” Does this kid seriously know everyone in the world or something?

        “Please, I would know that loud mouth anywhere.” Apparently yes, he does. Or everyone just knows his loud mouth, like Tenten said.

        “Funny, I said the exact same thing earlier. Naruto must be famous for his big loud mouth.” You said with sarcasm. Tenten giggled and nodded her head in a firm ‘yes’.

        “He is. And hey, at least you already know one of my friends who I’m gonna show ya!” You froze.

        “Wait what do you mean by-” As you were trying to finish your sentence, an ear piercing whistle echoed off the gym walls, which you found was Anko blowing her whistle. As soon as she walked off, Tenten wasted no time in grabbing your wrist and dragging you to where the boys were.

        “Just a warning, my friends can be a bit… different.” She warned. Different? Before you could voice your opinion, you heard Naruto calling out to the both of you.

        “(Y/N)! Tenten!” He was laughing and waving at you guys. When you were finally dragged all the way over to Naruto, which didn’t take long, you noticed two others who were behind him, wearing the same uniforms as you. These must be Tenten’s other friends she was talking about.

        One was a boy who looked like Hinata, with his most distinct features being his pale white skin and pale purple eyes, just like hers. Is he related to her? Hmm, I’ll have to ask. His chocolate brown hair was held behind him by a candy red headband, with a few long strands of loose hair on the sides of his face. The only other difference in his attire was that he had brown sneakers that were a lighter shade than his hair. He was frowning as he made eye contact with you, seemingly observing you as you were him. He almost looked disgusted with you, but you ignored it, since you were already used to things like that.

        The other boy, who stood next to him, seemed much more jumpy and chipper, the complete opposite of the other one. He seems more similar to Naruto. He had such a happy and excited grin plastered on his face, his big black orbs glowed like clear sunshine, and his big bushy black eyebrows were furrowed in great determination. He had short black hair styled in a bowl shaped haircut with a white stripe across the middle of his bangs. His arms had white bandages wrapped all around them, leaving only his hands and shoulders exposed. Long puffy orange socks were pulled all the way up to his knees and he had dark green sneakers on his feet.

        “Hey (Y/N), these are my friends I was talking about.” Tenten stated cheerfully. The boy who looked like Hinata glared daggers at the both of you.

        “And who gave you permission to talk about me with a… lowly heathen.” He spat. You shot him a death glare and clenched your hands into fists, just daring him to try and call you something again. Who does he think he is? Th emperor of Rome or something?

        “Neji!” Tenten glared along with you. ‘Neji’ merely rolled his eyes and continued to glare at you. However, you didn’t miss the look of pain in his eyes that flashed for just a second, and then as quickly as it was there, it disappeared; you almost thought it was your eyes playing tricks on you. Your arm was pulled at by Tenten, drawing your attention away from Neji. She leaned in and whispered in your ear. “Sorry about Neji. He can be a little harsh, at times.” You didn’t answer back, and the other boy jumped in front of you.

        “And I am Rock Lee!!! It is so nice to meet you! Will you be my girlfriend?” It took you a moment to realize what he just asked you. Wait… what!? You looked at ‘Rock Lee’ like he was crazy. 

        “No.” You said sternly. He quickly slouched in defeat and took on a saddened expression, which made you feel guilty, since he reminded you so much of Naruto. You went over to him and pat his back, albeit rather awkwardly. “Umm, sorry? Uhh… h-how about we just be… friends?” You asked unsurely. You really didn’t know what to do in this kind of situation, you doubted anyone did. You looked over at Tenten and Naruto to see if you had done the right thing, but they both shrugged their shoulders, unsure just like you. Suddenly, Lee jumped up and fist bumped the air.

        “Alright! It is decided!! We will be the best of friends then!!! YAY!!!” You raised your eyebrows in confusion, but eventually just shrugged your shoulders to say that you were… ‘okay’ with all of this. You leaned in next to Tenten.

        “Does Naruto have some kind of contagious disease that spreads through the air? Cause it sure looks like it.” You whispered. Tenten busted out laughing, and apparently, Naruto had overheard.

        “Heeeeyy! What the heck does that mean!!!?” You shrugged your shoulders and laughed with Tenten, while Naruto was grumbling and pouting like a child the whole time. Neji turned to the wall and closed his eyes. He mumbled something under his breath along the lines of ‘foolish mongrel’, which you decided to ignore, while Lee looked over at you guys, confused at why you and Tenten were laughing and Naruto was acting grouchy.

        “I don’t understand. What is so funny?” Lee asked. Tenten replied through fits of laughter.

        “N-Nothing Lee!” He was still confused and looked over to Neji for an explanation, who merely snorted and mumbled a reply.

        “It was something she said.” He said ‘she’ with pure disgust. You sent a hateful glare his way, but looked back at Lee when he started speaking to you.

        “Never mind that. Please forgive us for not asking earlier, but what is your name?” You hesitated a bit, before replying.

        “(Y/N).”

        “(L/N).” Tenten quickly added. You crossed your arms and looked her way. She smirked at you. “What? It’s not like you were gonna tell them. They didn’t ask.” You rolled your eyes at her and laughed at the inside joke. That’s when you heard Neji mumble something again.

        “If you don’t have the decency to tell someone your last name, why bother introducing your worthless self at all.” That made you snap. What bothered you the most about it was that he didn’t even have the decency himself to say it to your face. 

        “Okay, that’s IT!” You marched right over towards Neji, not caring about or paying attention to anyone was watching. You were tired of hearing him say these things about you, tired of people like him who treated you like complete crap. You finally had enough of people walking over you like this, who didn’t care what they said and had fun tormenting you. You had promised yourself that it would never happen again, and you were determined to keep that promise. You were determined to stand up for yourself.

        At the sound of your stomping feet, he finally looked your way in abhorrence. Your lips curled up in a snarl. “If you’re gonna talk bad about me, at least have the freaking dignity to say it to my face! And what the hell did I EVER do to you to make you say all this shit! You have no right to talk about me or call me names or ANYTHING when you don’t even KNOW me! So how about it, asshole!? Do you have anything ELSE to say!? HUH!?” You seethed through gritted teeth. You made sure that you didn’t yell too loud to attract unwanted attention from any of the teachers so you wouldn’t get in trouble, you at least at that much control left. It looked like he was about to say something else snarky and hurtful, but once he looked at your eyes, his widened in return. He looked away from you and closed his eyes, seeming to be in deep thought about something. Naruto tried to break the bitter cold tension in the air.

        “(Y-Y/N)? H-How about we just-” You and Neji didn’t hear him, as Neji spoke once more interrupting him.

        “Nothing.” He said it so calmly and guiltily, as if he wanted to deny it, but couldn’t. “Absolutely… nothing.” You were stunned, but your ire only rose. 

        “Then what the HELL is your freaking PROBLEM!!” You breathed heavily, pure rage seeping through your veins. He looked at you with slightly saddened eyes, but that didn’t change anything for you. Silence followed, and all that you were thinking of was how this was exactly like your past. Then, he said merely two words.

        “Your eyes.” 

        “What the hell is wrong with my eyes?” You pressed on, still enraged. He sighed.

        “Your eyes… reminded me of something. Something long ago.”

        “What in the hell is something.” He turned away again, not wanting to meet your intense gaze.

        “Myself.” He muttered. Your expression softened just a bit, and you waited for him to explain what he meant. He sighed as he noticed this. “The look in your eyes. That hidden and bottled up pain, looked so much like me before, that I couldn’t take it. It reminded me too much of past memories that I must’ve…” He paused. “I regrettably took my anger out on you.” You stared at him more questionably, and your cold gaze turned into an understanding one. Then, you mumbled something that you didn’t intend to say out loud.

        “I knew I saw pain in your eyes.” Neji looked at you in shock, since it was unfortunately loud enough for him to hear. 

        “…What was that?” He asked quietly. Your eyes widened for a split second as you realized he had heard you.

        “Nothing. Whatever.” You shook your head out of your shocked state and resumed your cold glare. “But just because something like that bothers you, doesn’t mean you can take it out on people who don’t deserve it. Learn to at least talk it out, instead of just being a stupid jerk about it, freaking bastard.” He snorted at your rudeness, but quickly reclaimed his saddened composure, lowering his head in shame. He opened his mouth a few times to talk, but closed it just as quickly, as if he couldn’t say the words he so needed to say. But then, something you never expected was uttered.

        “I’m… sorry.” You heard the other three gasp, like Neji apologizing was impossible. “It… was uncalled for.” He finished. His eyes finally looked up from the ground and he stared at you, and you back into them, looking for any lies, treachery, or anything else of the sort. There was none, only genuine regret.

        “What’s gotten into you Neji? You’re never like this with other people.” Naruto stated quietly and in confusion.  You smirked, as you got an idea.

        “This is just what happens when guys are on their man-periods Naruto.” You stated smugly. Naruto snickered and tried to hold back his laughter. Neji started to glare but it quickly changed once he saw your playful expression. “And now we’re even.” His eyes softened with a light glow to them, and his lips curved up into a little smirk.

        “Well, I guess I deserved that, didn’t I.” He uncrossed his arms and held one hand out to you, and grabbed it with your own hand.

        “Friends?” You asked. He shook your hand, and you did the same.

        “Friends.” He replied. You both let go of each others’ hands and you smirked. 

        “Just next time, warn me before one of your man-period fits start again.” You lightly chuckled, and he smirked.

        “Well, if mine are bad, I’d hate to see you on yours then.” You laughed.

        “Ain’t that the truth.” You mumbled and he hummed in agreement, which you chuckled at. You turned around to face the group, when out of the corner of your eye, you saw Gaara watching, still in the same place when you entered the gym. You didn’t get a chance to glare at him back or wonder what such an intense look was for, since no one else seemed to notice you and Neiji’s argument, because two piercing loud whistles basically destroyed your eardrums. Immediately, Tenten pulled you away, and you felt Gaara’s gaze leave you. What is wrong with him? Does he have to keep looking at me like that?

        “I’ve never seen Neji act like that before. How’d you do it? I wanna know your secret!” Tenten whisper yelled at you so Anko wouldn’t hear you guys talking. You smirked.

        “Let’s just say that it was an… understanding, and like I’ve said before, his raging man-period hormones.”  Tenten giggled as you both lined up with where the girls had originally been. They looked to be standing as straight and stiff as if this was a military salute, which even though you thought was odd, you copied it nonetheless. Anko’s yell cut through the air like a sharp knife.

        “Alright, maggots. Lets get started! Outside, NOW!” She demanded in an army general like tone and then blew her whistle. Everyone started jogging to the exit that lead outside, which you followed suit. What amazed you was that the boys had already left, and it was only a few seconds ago when you lined up with the girls. I’m starting to see what Naruto and Tenten meant by their warnings about these teachers.

        Once outside, you saw a football field in the center of a large track with silver bleachers on the right side of it. A huge soccer field was to the left of the track, where the boys were already running laps. You and the other girls went to the track, where Anko worked you all to the bone, making you guys run six laps, do fifty pushups, fifty sit ups, sprints, bleachers, and others just as rough. Every exercise she made you do you always finished it first by a long shot, even beating the physically fit Tenten, who always came in second. Anko seemed impressed with you, since no one was exactly ‘as fit’ as you were, except for Tenten.

        “Impressive (L/N). You’re a tough maggot, aren’t you? How’d you get to be so strong?” You shrugged your shoulders.

        “I guess… experience is what you’d call it?” You didn’t lie. All of that stuff your step parents made you do did make you strong, stronger than most. It gave the ability to push past pain, since you had had to, less you face much more severe punishments. This class was nothing compared to the torture you had to go through. Even still, Anko smirked, not knowing the answer to her question.

        “Well, keep up the good work maggot.” She slapped you on the back, and then sent you and the rest of the girls into the locker rooms. When you and Tenten finally reached your lockers, you both started changing, and she started a conversation.

        “Hey, you were pretty good out there. You always finished first. How did you get so strong?” You shrugged your shoulders, just like you did with Anko, and you gave the same reply as well.

        “Experience.” Tenten smiled.

        “Well then, maybe you could tell me your secret sometime.” This secret isn’t a good one. It’s not something you want to go through, it’s something no one should have to go through. With this thought in your head, you shakenly replied.

        “Maybe. We’ll see.” You both smiled at each other, with yours being more fake than real, as immediately after the bell rang. Tenten and you quickly exchanged numbers, and then you both walked out of the locker room and into the main hallway. 

        “Bye (Y/N)! See you tomorrow!” You waved bye as well, and went your separate ways, since she had to go to another class than you. 

        There was something lingering in the back of your mind though, something that had been bothering you ever since you came back inside. Throughout the whole time you and the girls had been exercising, you had a distinct feeling that something was wrong. That feeling had sent shivers down your spine and made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It felt like someone was watching you, observing you, taking note of every action you made. You had originally thought it was Gaara, however, this was different. It wasn’t like one of Gaara’s looks, it was almost as if it was an entirely different person, the vibes you were getting from this was much creepier. Unfortunately, you couldn’t look around to find out who it really was, or you would have gotten yelled at by Anko for not focusing, like a couple other girls earlier had. You hadn’t wanted to get in trouble on your first day, so you had just kept going. So that left one question remaining in your mind, as you now walked down the main hallway to where the classrooms were.

        Who had been watching you, and why?